VETERANS BALL

ALEDO - Nearly 100 individuals Turned out Saturday to support area veterans with the fifth annual Veterans Ball at the Mercer County VFW Hall in Aledo. Post Cmdr. Jay Doherty introduced a new grave marker program that will be installed at all Mercer County veterans' burial sites in the county. The markers will cost $30 apiece. The ball served as a fundraiser for the new program.

"It's going to take us a while to get all of the veterans in this county," said Doherty.

Guest speaker at the event was Stephanie Kifowit, a former Marine, who now serves as the Illinois state representative in the 84th District. She spent the past summer touring the state and interviewing veterans for an Illinois veterans suicide task force. "We set out on a journey of discovery." She said that there were places in the state where veterans were being served well, as well as places were the service was poor.

"There is a profound need for veterans in the community to be heard," Kifowit said.

Kifowit told the audience about her four-year stint in the Marines, which she joined when she was 17. "Serving your country changes your perspective," she said.

She pointed out that the Legislature is sometimes slow in supporting veteran initiatives. One reason might be because there are so few serving - only six veterans are in the House and three or four in the Senate.

She plans to present the findings from the summer tour to the general assembly during the second veto session this December.

"This is my passion," she said, noting the report may generate some bills or policy changes. "It's a road map."